Permitting a Driver to Borrow a Vehicle with a Malfunctioning Gas Gauge Was Not a Proximate Cause of Deadly Accident Where Driver Was Struck by a Hit-and-Run Driver While Standing Outside the Vehicle After Running Out of Gas.

The decedent driver had borrowed a vehicle from the defendant owner that had a malfunctioning gas gauge. The decedent ran out of gas and was forced to stop on a two-lane highway with a 50-miles-per-hour speed limit. After exiting the stranded vehicle, the decedent was struck by a hit-and-run vehicle. 

The tragic circumstances of the accident aside, the New York Appellate Court did limit the liability to the vehicle owner by holding that, permitting the decedent to use the vehicle with the non-working gas gauge was not a proximate cause of the accident due to the superseding events that occurred between that alleged negligent act and the events that resulted in the hit-and-run collision.

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